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The Art of Theology: Not Putting God in Your Box
devotional thought of the day:
1 Then Job answered the LORD. 2 Job I know, LORD, that you are all-powerful; that you can do everything you want. 3 You ask how I dare question your wisdom when I am so very ignorant. I talked about things I did not understand, about marvels too great for me to know. 4 You told me to listen while you spoke and to try to answer your questions. 5 In the past I knew only what others had told me, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. 6 So I am ashamed of all I have said and repent in dust and ashes. Job 42:1-6 (TEV)
272 If you are sensible and humble, you will have realised that one never stops learning… This happens in every field; even the wisest will always have something to learn, until the end of their lives; if they don’t, they cease to be wise. (1)
I am a pastor, that means to a certain point, I have been trained as a theologian. If you look at my libraries, you will see a few thousand volumes of books. The hardbacks I have read through, the digital ones, well – there are too many, but I source many of them each week in sermon preparation. Usually I skim maybe 20% of the 100-1500 hits I research, looking for various things to help prepare a message. I probably choose 10-20 to copy and paste and dwell through each week.
Been doing this for a while now, actually changed denominations once, have my favorite authors ( Luther, Escriva, Oden, Ratzinger, Willimon, Melancthon, Walther, Pieper, Augustine, Fracnis De Sales, Robert Webber ) It is somewhat an eclectic list, with guys from different times, different backgrounds. Which leads me to my point. I
We can’t put God in our Box.
We have to take Him as He reveals Himself, even if we don’t necessarily like His methods, His rules, His ways. We can’t say they are wrong simply because we don’t like them. Nor can we say with integrity that He didn’t really mean “that”. Yet to often we do, unaware that pride is causing us to shatter the first commandment.
Over the years, others have done fine jobs summarizing the faith. The three creeds that are held by Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Churches ( The Apostles, Nicene and Athanasian) are good. I am particularly fond of others, the Augsburg Confession and Apology of the Augsburg Confession, and Luther’s Catechisms for example. Pieper has done a masterpiece of theology, so has Thomas Oden never mind Luther and Augustine. But I can’t remember ever page, every question and answer of these theological giants. My expectation is neither can they! They couldn’t in a couple thousand pages describe everything about God, they couldn’t out-Bible the Bible. They wrote great things… yet, it is still the observation of men, not equal to scripture.
That is what Job realized at the end of the book that bears his name. (as did his friends…) It is what Josemaria Escriva talks about, in a section on humility (not, incidentally, on wisdom!)
A wise man once said that, “A man’s got to know his limitations…” Another, Socrates was considered to be the wisest man of his time. His response to being told this was something like this, “it is only because I realize how much I don’t know.” A good theologian talks where there is definite scriptural support – and struggles with that which contradicts his logix, because It is God’s word, God’s reasoning that trumps ours. Even when it doesn’t seem logical, or fair.
Yesterday’s blog was about walking humbly with God, about keeping our eyes on Him, about sometimes that humility is only found in the midst of great sorrow. Today’s is similar, our wisdom comes, not from what we know about God, but that we realize we are not omniscient, that His word trumps our logic. That there is a reason why He is God, that He is our Lord, our Savior, our Benefactor, and we are simply…. His kids.
So give up, for a day or two, putting God in your box…. let Him instead bring you into His glory….
Lord Have Mercy!
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1337-1340). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Dare we pray…for mercy
Dove of the Holy Spirit (ca. 1660, alabaster, Throne of St. Peter, St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Discussion thought of the Day:
12 Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others. Matthew 6:12 (MSG)
38 And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ 39 40 Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’ Matthew 25:38-40 (MSG)
In this life of ours we must expect the Cross. Those who do not expect the Cross are not Christians, and they will be unable to avoid their own “cross”, which will drive them to despair. (1)
If the atrocities that happened in Dr. Gosnell’s clinic sickened you, this blog may be difficult to read. Please know that even a I type these words, I am praying specifically for those who will struggle with this.
I think we, as the church, must pray for this man, we must cry out to God that God would bring Dr. Gosnell to repentance, to the very transformation that leads to life. I say this neither lightly, nor ignoring the horrors that occurred at his direction, at his hands. I as much as any, struggle with the abortion issue, because of the circumstances of my birth. If I was born 8-10 years later, society would have approved – heck – would have recommended that I be aborted. Having now met my birth mother, I am pretty sure she still would not have…yet….
Obviously we need to pray for Dr. Gosnell’s sake that he finds the mercy that can only come through the Holy Spirit circumcising his heart, through the hardness being excised. It would be a miracle as mind-blowing as any I’ve seen or heard of in my life, a conversion far more incredible than that of Chuck Colson, and perhaps even Dahmer. We cannot let this man go forgotten, we have to realize that sharing the gospel with him, and praying that God would raise up the chaplain who will minister to him in prison, is essential.
But, as we are taught to pray, we need to do it for our sake as well. We can allow ourselves to be hardened and callous to this man, we cannot just demand justice, ignoring that he too, is a life. If we do, if we are merciless – then we have turned into the same kind of monster we perceive him to be.
As St. Josemaria tells us – we have to expect this cross, we have to expect to bear the cross of ministering to the greatest of sinners. We cannot avoid it.
For if we do we fail and despair. If we do, we will convince ourselves that there is a limit to God’s grace, a limit to His reach, a limit to His ability to grant someone repentance.
And eventually, that limit will find itself growing – leaving more and more in the position of being beyond grace. Until we find ourselves outside the limit of His grace.
If we determine Gosnell can’t be reached – if we decide his reconciliation is not something we will pray for, bearing that cross, we will start down a dangerous path.
Dahmer was saved, as were Paul, as was King David, as are we…
Let’s pray for Dr. Gosnell, and for those involved in the abortion industry, for the victims, for those convinced that it is “okay”, for those who work and advocate for it.
That they would come to know the grace found in the only begotten son of God.
May we find God’s mercy to pray for them, to pray for Him.
Let us pray….
LORD HAVE MERCY!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 2748-2750). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
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God’s Justice is Love?
Discussion/Devotional thought of the day:
“Don’t fear God’s justice. It is no less admirable and no less lovable than his mercy. Both are proofs of his love.” Escriva, Josemaria
To think of Justice as an act of love is challenging, primarily because I don’t think we understand justice. We see it primarily as punitive, and in an eternal sense – there is something to that. But justice in scripture is also righteousness – and in that form, it cannot abide unrighteousness,
It seems to be that we want God to work on the injustice in the world, that which we see as not being righteous. The challenge is wanting Him to do the same in our own lives, even as we pray it occurs in our communities and countries. And ultimately, His righteousness is proven in how He deals with our unrighteousness – He keeps His promise – His sacred covenantal promise and makes a righteous people by putting their injustice and unrighteousness on someone else- that His justice may be seen.
May we find that love every day, as we look at crosses that surround us – testifying to His justice, His mercy and His love!
